The Mind Forgets, the Heart Remembers
by Brian2
Summary: Keiichi, Bell, Urd & Skuld during the time between when Bell first appeared to Keiichi as a kid and when she returned to him. - Final Chp 11 up
1. Where did the Emptyness come from?

--- Oh My Goddess characters owned by Kosuke Fujishima and not by me. ---  
  
Setting: Not too long after little Belldandy erased Keiichi's memories and had to return to heaven.  
At Keiichi's home -  
  
"Mawwwmm!" cried a young Keiichi, waking up from having his recurring dream about angels again.  
  
Keiichi's mom hollers back at him from the kitchen. "Come on in here hon, what's wrong?"  
  
Keiichi crawls out of bed and runs into the kitchen. "Bwaaa, I dreamed about angels again, I miss her…"  
  
"You miss the who hon? The angel? Have you been dreaming about them lately?" asked Keiichi's mom.  
  
"I don't know, I just feel like I miss the angel in my dreams, it hurts" cried a sad Keiichi and he clutches  
his chest.  
  
"Hon, have you ever met an angel? Besides your mother, I mean." Keiichi's mom smiles warmly and  
turns to her little black-haired Keiichi.  
  
-sniff- "I don't know mom, I don't think so" Keiichi feels alittle pang in his heart when he says that.   
  
He feels like he had a friend that left him, although he doesn't know why. Little Keiichi goes back to his  
room and plops down in bed.  
  
Today is Saturday, no school today! "Little sister wants to go to the playground with me. I'll go get her  
up so we can go!" Memories of his dream fade away as he hops back out of bed and runs down the hall to  
sister Megumi's room.   
  
"Lil' sis! Wake up little sister!" Keiichi bangs on the door to wake her up to the chagrin of his mom who   
hopes he doesn't put his hand through the paper again. "Today we get to go play!"  
  
Megumi wakes with a big yawn, "Big Brother, I'm up! I want to eat first, I'm hungry."  
  
Mom walks up behind Keiichi, "She's right, you go in an eat before we walk down there." Keiichi runs  
into the dining room and plops down on his knees by the table. Little Megumi sleepily strolls in behind while   
mom brings in breakfast.  
  
"Don't you two make more noise, your dad got home late from work." Mom puts down two rice bowls in front  
of her kids, makes them drink their morning glass of milk, and shoos them back to get dressed after they've finished.  
  
Keiichi & Megumi come back out ready to go as mom finished cleaning up breakfast. "Let's go you two, play   
nice today or we're coming right back."  
  
Keiichi's mom walks the two down the street on this bright Saturday morning to the playground. Keiichi &  
Megumi run up to jungle gym and start climbing up to the top, Keiichi on one side and Megumi on the other.  
  
Keiichi climbs halfway up and looks over to his sister on the other side, he feels that pang in his heart again   
as he is reminded of the angel in his dreams and how they played, but it's only Megumi over there trying to keep  
up with big brother.   
  
Keiichi looks down sadly and tries to keep Meg from seeing the tear that ran down his cheek and fell into the  
sand below.  
  
Up in heaven, another tear fell too. 


	2. Unseen Help

--- Oh My Goddess characters owned by Kosuke Fujishima and not by me. ---  
  
Setting: Warm afternoon with Keiichi holding a small bike in the driveway of his home.  
  
"Come on son, put your foot here and hold on here and I'll steady you until you learn how to balance the   
bike on your own." Mr. Morisato helps Keiichi onto the bike, showing him where to put his feet and how   
to hold on to the handlebars. He just removed the training wheels for Keiichi's first attempt at riding the   
bike without them.  
  
"Now if you need to stop, rotate the pedals the other way and it will stop you."   
  
"Hold on dad! I know…I…think, ok, I'm on, go slow!"  
  
"Ok, her we go." Mr. Morisato slowly pushes the small red bike down the driveway as Keiichi tries to keep   
his feet on the pedals. The handle bars wobble back and forth as Keiichi overcompensates during steering,   
making it difficult for Mr. Morisato to keep him upright.   
  
At the end of the driveway, Mr. Morisato turns the bike around and pushes him back. A couple passes down   
the driveway later Keiichi steers better and Mr. Morisato decides to let go unbeknownst to Keiichi. Keiichi   
feels the bike get lighter and looks back seeing dad standing a few paces behind him. In a panic, he drops the   
bike on it's side in the driveway.  
  
"OW! Daaad! I wasn't ready!"  
  
Mr. Morisato chuckles, "I think you are, you just don't know it yet."  
  
"Ow! I scraped my knee on the driveway, could you ask mom for a band-aid?"  
  
"Yes, I'll be right back."  
  
Keiichi picks his bike up and walks it back up the driveway after Mr. Morisato goes inside. "Megumi can balance  
already, how come I can't?" Keiichi thinks to himself. The blood dribbles down his leg, it's not a bad cut, and not   
too painful. "I'm going to try this again before dad comes back out, it might be easier with nobody watching…"  
  
Keiichi sits on his bike and looks down the driveway. A breeze comes up from behind and gently pushes him.   
Pretty pink flower pedals flow down the drive with the breeze. Keiichi kicks off and put his feet on the bike pedals,   
trying not to oversteer. Halfway down the driveway and he's still riding, then he's almost to the end of the driveway   
and still upright, "Yay! I made it!" cries Keiichi as he reverses the pedals and stops the bike at the end of the driveway   
without falling over.   
  
Mr. Morisato comes out with a band-aid, "Keiichi, you haven't come back up here yet? Come on up so I can clean your knee up."  
  
"I did make it dad! I went back up there and then rode down here, without putting my feet down!"  
  
"Really? Good! Come on back up here and you can show me."  
  
Keiichi hops off his bike and runs it back up to his dad. "Dad, the wind helped me out, it pushed me and I felt steadier.   
And it smelled good, like perfume."  
  
Mr. Morisato sees just a few pedals of pink flowers in the driveway, "Well, those would be cherry blossoms, but they're  
usually not in bloom yet…" 


	3. Repressed Feelings

--- Oh My Goddess characters owned by Kosuke Fujishima and not by me. ---  
  
Setting: Teenager Keiichi, about 15, sitting in school…  
  
"Aw man, I don't want to go to the school dance, I'd have to ask someone out and I don't really know   
anyone good enough to do that." Keiichi sits in math class anxiously awaiting the bell to ring, his pen   
keeps drawing pictures of the moped he saw a kid ride to school. He hasn't had his growth spurt yet   
and is smaller than his classmates. To make things worse, all the girls are taller than him, which makes   
it harder to talk to them.   
  
-Rinnnggg- The last bell of the day and Keiichi walks out of his building and waits for Megumi so they   
can go home. Megumi's home room is in the building next to his, so it takes just a minute for her to walk over.   
  
"Hi big brother! Have you heard about the dance coming up? Who are you going to ask to it?" Megumi   
was going, and hoping the brown-haired boy that sits next to her would ask her to meet there.  
  
"Well, uh, I was thinking of not going. I don't really think I can get someone to go with me, at least noone real."  
  
"Still dreaming about angels? Really, I thought you'd out grow that by now. At least you can make your socks match!"  
  
"Megumi! You can walk home alone if you're going to tease me like that. I haven't done that since   
before, before…"  
  
"The angels? Man, I think you are losing it. Get out of your head and get real. Go ask someone out."  
  
Keiichi and Megumi stroll home and go into their rooms and drop their school bags. Keiichi sits down at   
his desk and sighs. He pulls out his books out to do boring homework as Megumi runs down the hall to watch tv.   
  
A couple hours later, still engrossed in homework, Mr. Morisato had come home from work and walks   
by Keiichi's room and pauses. Peeking in, he calls over to Keiichi. "I heard your school is having a dance   
from Megumi. Are you planning on going?"  
  
"Not really dad, I don't know any girls enough to ask them out. I was going to stay home."  
  
"Well son, I don't think that will get you to know anyone better by staying home. I want you to go. Plus,   
Megumi will be there and you can keep an eye on her, you know, be her protective big brother."  
  
Keiichi rolls his eyes, "ok dad, but I don't want to stay too long."  
  
"When is it? This weekend?"  
  
"Yeah, Friday evening, 6-9."  
  
"Ok, give me a call when you're done & I'll pick you up."  
  
"Ok dad."  
  
Megumi overheard this conversation and though "Aw man! A chaperone! I'm 13, my friends probably won't   
have chaperones!"  
..Friday at the Dance…  
Keiichi sits off to the side, Megumi is talking to some boy that looks about her age although he really seems  
to be interested in someone else on the dance floor. Keiichi silently sighs to himself, watching his classmates   
meet people and talk while he sits off on the sidelines. He hears Megumi raise her voice about something   
then she gets up and comes over to sit by him.  
  
"Stupid guys, they are stupid!"   
  
Keiichi clears his throat and attempts a big brother response, "Well, at 13 they're not thinking girls yet silly,   
just because girls mature sooner doesn't mean you can expect boys to do the same."  
  
"Yeah, you're right, I just wanna be with my friends, I'm going to go over and see how they're doing."  
  
"Ok, be back in a little bit though, we have to call dad soon."  
  
"Ok see ya. Try to at least talk to someone before we go? You haven't done that all night."  
  
"Maybe, " Keiichi thought if it weren't for his responsibilities as a 'big brother' he would've split a   
long time ago. He finishes off his soda and gets up for a refill.  
  
-Pang- went his heart when he stood. A girl with chestnut brown hair was standing on the floor, looking at him.   
Keiichi looks over his shoulder to see who she's looking for, then he turns back to her but she's gone.   
"Must be looking for someone, she looked familiar, I wonder which class she's in" he thinks and heads   
over to the soda table. He refills his cup and turns back around, she's still gone; but a familiar feeling in   
his heart returns, the feeling he gets...  
  
...like when he dreams...  
  
...about angels...  
  
Bell looks down from her terminal as glowing tears flow to the floor far below. The scene on her terminal   
shows a black haired teenage boy looking depressed at a dance, making a call on his cell phone. "I was so   
close…but I can't stop thinking of him after all these years, why can't I be with him again Lord?"  
  
Bell managed to see him for a moment on her way back to heaven after granting a wish. The wish recipient   
was in Japan, and she thought she could see Keiichi without getting in trouble since he was "on the way" home.   
However, Yggdrasil brought her back automatically right after she stopped at the dance. "I thought he saw me   
in that moment. Please Father, let him remember…and allow a goddess' wish to be with him again soon. Don't   
let that feeling he carries in his heart be forgotten."  
  
Bell hits a key on her terminal and the picture of Keiichi and Megumi leaving the dance changes to a   
screensaver of dolphins swimming by. Her heart tumbles as she leaves her terminal and floats out into   
the gardens outside Yggdrasil. 


	4. Planning Ahead

--- Oh My Goddess characters owned by Kosuke Fujishima and not by me. ---  
Chapter 4  
  
The Almighty and Senior Gods and Goddesses close the meeting of the High Council on Planetary Habitation in Heaven.  
Two Elder Senior Goddesses come up to Him afterwards, anxious to further discuss the status of Earth's development.  
  
"My Lord, Velena and I have concern that the people of Earth will not advance through this stage in their development.  
Their ambitions have strayed from our plan. We believe subtle demon influences are affecting the majority of   
the population."  
  
He nods to the two Goddesses, "I agree, we need to increase our presence on Earth to guide them back. I have   
foreseen this and am developing a Goddess to help them. She does not know her purpose yet, nor is she   
ready to accept it. It will be soon when the Earth will receive her guardian."  
  
Velena and Passier bow slightly to Him, "Thank you Lord, we hope your Goddess will allow the Humans on Earth   
to sense the demon ways and be able to move forward in their evolution."  
  
He stands from the High Council Table and frowns slightly, "The change on Earth will not be quick, for they   
will still experience sorrow in order to see their chosen path. The Goddess will teach them through one of   
their own. Until then, keep the Goddess Relief Office fully staffed to ease the suffering where they can."  
  
"Thank you Lord," reply the two Senior Goddesses in unison. They turn and head out of the Great Hall to return   
to the Relief Offices.  
  
The Lord returns to his chambers and enters his meeting notes into his terminal. "If my Goddess has difficulty,   
I will need another to be available to assist" He thinks to himself. He types rapidly on his terminal, bringing   
up the dossiers of a very young Goddess and also a teenage Goddess with platinum hair & a good-looking tan. He   
reviews their current assignments and progress in school, "It would be natural for sisters to help each other, I   
will see that Belldandy has the support she will need. In addition, if Belldandy cannot fulfill her love with   
the mortal, the others will have the opportunity to do so. Although I believe nothing short of a great tragedy   
for Gods and mortals would prevent Belldandy from doing so." He modifies the two other Goddess's future   
assignments to place them in positions to help Belldandy. "There, so I speak."  
  
Belldandy, second class, limited Goddess, sits at her terminal in the relief Office and studies Yggdrasil's   
Wish code. Velena asked her to expand the acceptable wish list after returning from the High Council meeting.   
The Wish list has been deemed too strict, and was limiting the scope of happiness one could wish for. The High   
Council decided to expand the wish possibilities for mortals since the demon influences on Earth seem to be   
stronger than before. Bell was given the responsibility to add these improvements to the system based on   
guidance from the Goddesses that were currently on assignment to grant wishes. Bell was anxiously awaiting   
the day she could join them, as she has not forgotten the one mortal boy who she met years ago and follows   
his progress through her terminal and the promise she made to him. "I will fulfill my promise..." Bell   
repeats softly. Looking at the wish list, she wonders if she can add something to help her spend some   
time with Keiichi, should she ever get the chance to see him again. Also, if he would make a wish that   
would allow her to stay, at least for awhile. Nothing in the list could really use the Ultimate Force to   
bind a God or Goddess personally to the wish receiver, so she decides to code one new criteria into the   
middle of the list -  
---Yggdrasil Wish Authority - Acceptable Wish List---  
  
1. Can wish for financial security.  
2. Can wish for end to poverty for family.  
3. Can wish for end to local war.  
.....  
9,472,082 [changed 02/14/90 by Belldandy, second class, limited] Can wish for Goddess to remain with wish   
recipient for specified time.  
9,472,083 Can wish for bubble gum.  
9,472,084 Can wish for new car.  
.....  
Up in His office, a chuckle is heard by His secretary followed by His comment to His terminal screen, "I think   
Belldandy will do a fine job on Earth..." 


	5. Urd becomes part of the Master Plan

--- Oh My Goddess characters owned by Kosuke Fujishima and not by me. ---

When Bell sang in heaven, she always thought of Keiichi as she sang. Her feelings for him filled her with the love & emotion to carry her pure voice high into Heaven. She was quick to cry sometimes only because she missed Keiichi so and wanted to be with him again. Was this unnatural? Maybe, but Kami-sama allowed her to feel this way, even silently encouraging it. Kami-sama knew the time was coming where Earth needed some full-time assistance, and Bell was going to be the one to provide it. The Love between her & Keiichi would be all the strength she needed to face the ordeals ahead for Earth. Their love was meant to be. Kami-sama decided that her sisters would be there for her while Keiichi was finishing up school and to fend off the demons that would notice her presence. When Keiichi married Bell (it was ordained to be so) the sisters could return to Heaven if they choose. However, a couple of other love potentials were in the works for them. If they choose to fall in love with a mortal like Bell did, they would be blessed to remain with them as well, and Earth would gain more protectors.

Chapter 5 - Urd becomes part of the Master Plan.

Skuld, being a natural young goddess of curious interest (to a fault), takes to visiting the spare equipment rooms for Yggdrasil when visiting her older sisters who are learning programming. Parts & pieces scattered on workbenches provide a rich source of eye candy for the little tinkerer who cannot escape the enticing opportunity to 'explore'the benches. Noticing noone is around in the room (since things rarely break down and need fixed) she scoots a crate over by a table and steps up on it to survey her find. Things that beep, things that flash, some things even float, and oh yes, many rolls of superconductor wiring beckon her little fingers to touch them. "Aw, you look lonely, I'm going to take you home!" she says to a circuit board loaded with primo Yggdrasil op sys components. She puts the board in her backpack, steps down off the crate and scoots it back to it's spot. She runs over to the door, peeks out, sees noone then happily skips to big sister Urd's terminal.

A few moments later, Urd hears a noisy little goddess approaching her station.

"Skuld, you seem happy, did you get to see Belldandy today?" asks a studious Urd who had recently been assigned to learn Yggdrasil code.

"No, but I want to go see her before I have to go home."

Urd's terminal flashes "Error 496 - Compile Errors Found - Please Verify Source Code." She winces and levitates a book over to her to scan the pages for an explanation, "Skuld, I can't believe I've got to learn this, we already have several good programmers. My specialty is potions, and this is nothing like that." Urd drops that book and levitates another over to her, flipping it open and cycling rapidly through the pages. "Let's see, Error 496, it says here to see volume 34." Crap! How many books do I have to look through to find the explanation of one stupid error!"

Skuld waves bye to Urd who hasn't been paying her much attention as she deciphers her coding problem, "Well okay, bye big sister, I'm going home."

Urd waves to her little sister bye without looking up from the book. Skuld just gets out the door when she hears a *ZZZAAAPPP* and suspects Urd gave the book a healthy dose of a bolt spell from Urd to vent her frustration. 

Skuld skips along the halls of Yggdrasil's terminal complex, looking for big sister. The halls are grand with very high open ceilings, greenery growing up portions of the walls which are widely spaced, and brightly illuminated from the heavenly light above. The floors are smooth, not a crack anywhere, perfect. Most traveling through this hall is done several feet off the floor by the programmers that keep Yggdrasil & all the universes running smoothly. Skuld hasn't learned how to levitate yet, so she's stuck walking on the ground, which is okay as it helps dissipate some of the bubbly energy the little goddess always has.

Belldandy types away at her terminal, finishing the wish system upgrades as she sees Skuld skipping down the hall to her. Her big blue eyes shine brightly as Skuld comes closer, "Hi Skuld, how are you doing today?"

Skuld skips up to Bell and stops by her, smiling. "I went and saw Urd, she's not doing too well. I'm headed home but wanted to see you before I left. What's wrong with big sister?"

Belldandy sighs, "She received a new assignment, she's learning Yggdrasil programming, and she's struggling with it. I'm sure she will do fine soon, she just has to learn to think like the way the code is written and it will come to her. Besides, I think she needed to be distracted from her 'potion' making, Kami-sama wasn't pleased with her last attempt to give a love potion to that boy in her class."

"What's a love potion sister?" asks the little unknowing goddess who admires Bell's big blue eyes.

"Well, it's something that makes the one who drinks it think that they're in love with the person who gave it to them. To make the receiver want to spend time with the giver."

Skuld looks curiously at Bell, "but why? What is special about spending time with someone else? Is it like when I want to see you and big sister?"

Bell chuckles, "Yes, it's something like that, but different, and it's hard to tell you what you feel when that happens. I have someone who I love, we're connected through our love for each other. Unfortunately, he cannot remember me because of something I had to do a long time ago. It's like the love you feel for us, your sisters, but with a desire to be one with the person in a different way than you are with your family."

"Um, you mean boys? Yeacchh, boys aren't smart and they aren't fun."

Bell closes her eyes and chuckles to Skuld, "Maybe your opinion of boys will change someday, they're really not all that bad."

"Yes they are! Boys pull on my hair and call me scrawny! I hate boys!" Skuld cries out as she snaps her eyes shut and makes a mean face.

Bell places her hand over her mouth, "Oh my, do they really do that?"

Skuld starts crying softly, "Not all of them, but a couple do."

Belldandy smiles and chuckles quietly, "ah, that means they like you." Bell rubs Skuld's shoulder to reassure her. 

"What??" cries Skuld, "then why are they so mean??"

"Well, boys at that age don't know how to show their feelings well and sometimes pick on the people they like because they don't any other way to show their feelings for them."

"Well I don't like it and I don't like them! Big Sister, does the boy you like do that to you?" 

Belldandy sighs again and looks away from Skuld to her terminal. It shows a picture of a boy with black hair tinkering with a lawnmower. "No Skuld, but then again, I can't be with him right now, so I don't know if he'll be like that or not. I don't think he will be like that though."

Skuld looks over to her terminal when Bell does and sees the picture of the black haired kid. "Is that the boy you like? He looks scrawny."

Bell turns her head back and looks at Skuld with a concerned look on her face, "You mean scrawny like the boys call you? You can't say the same things of others if it makes you upset when you're called that Skuld. And yes, that is the boy, his name is Keiichi Morisato. He's the boy I met when I went to the surface world awhile ago, when I was about your age."

Skuld looks at the boy again, "What is he working on? It looks like a machine."

Bells smiles at Skuld, "Yes, it's what the mortals call a 'lawnmower'. It cuts grass."

Skuld wrinkles her nose at the picture, "Looks awfully primitive."

"Well, it supposed to be a simple machine. Their technological developm..."

Skuld cuts Bell's replay off, "I was talking about him!" she says as she raises her voice and points to the screen. 

Belldandy gasps and puts her hand over her mouth, "Why did you say that little sister??"

"I overheard some of the other Gods talking about the humans on Earth, they say that they 'are primitive and couldn't even figure out how their own gravity works'" Skuld replies.

"Oh Skuld, they are steadily developing, just like the other species that we watch over. They shouldn't say things like that. They may not look like much right now, but their hearts and souls are as big as any other species I've seen. Their thinking process just hasn't matured yet."

Skuld apologetically looks at Bell, "I'm sorry big sister, I didn't mean to upset you."

Belldandy smiles down to Skuld, "That's okay, you mean no harm. I have to finish up my coding or I'll be in trouble with Velena. Run on home and I'll sing for you when I'm done."

Skuld brightly smiles to Belldandy, "Okay!! Bye big sister! Come home soon!" Skuld waves enthusiastically and skips out of the terminal room, heading for home.

Bell turns back to the picture of Keiichi on the screen, feeling her heart warm as she watches the young boy pull and pull on a string, trying to start the lawnmower. She places her hand on her chest and closes her eyes, feeling her own heart strings inside humming to her, the ones that will pull them together and bind them to each other.


	6. Skuld becomes part of the Master Plan

--- Oh My Goddess characters owned by Kosuke Fujishima and not by me. ---  
  
Chapter 6 - Skuld becomes part of the Master Plan.  
  
Skuld is one the way home from visiting her sisters in the Yggdrasil terminal complex, happily  
thinking of the circuit board in her pack and what she can do with it. Menorum, her goddess  
instructor, steps in front of her on the path through the gardens to stop and talk to her.  
  
"Skuld, I need to talk to you for a moment. As your goddess instructor, I have been chosen to  
instruct you in the knowledge necessary to acquire your third class, limited license. We need to  
spend more time on your training so you can gain your license soon." Menorum motions Skuld  
over to sit on a bench off to the side of the path. "Skuld, come over here and have a seat."  
  
Skuld nods and sits down on the bench, her feet dangling a foot or so off the ground. She looks  
up to Menorum and smiles with joy, "We get to work on my license so quickly? I'll be the  
youngest third class goddess in the heavens!"  
  
Menorum smiles and nods, "Yes, you can be the youngest, IF you are able to master your skills  
for your license. He will need your help in the future, and you must advance to a certain level  
before you can join your sisters."  
  
Skuld looks to Menorum with a confused look, "What do you mean with my sisters? Do I get to  
help them give wishes??"  
  
Menorum reaches over and holds Skuld's little hands in hers, "No, not wishes, but to help protect  
them. They do not know that yet and you are not allowed to tell them, they will be told when it  
is their time. You need to develop your powers, I already know you are good with machines,  
and I'm sure that circuit board in your pack will be put to good use in one of them."  
  
Skuld looks shocked and then immediately guilty. "How..how do you know Menorum? I'll give  
it back..."  
  
Menorum chuckles, "He told me, He has been watching out for you, and things like that don't go  
unnoticed. You were meant to have it, or it wouldn't have been made available for you to take."  
  
Skuld looks back up to Menorum with a tear on her cheek and sniffles, "I hope I didn't make  
Him mad..."  
  
"No, you didn't. Just put it to good use, along with the wire, relays, processors and terminal  
parts you've been gathering for awhile."  
  
Skuld is shocked again, but does not say anything. She does not want to disappoint her teacher.   
"I wi..will, and I'll ask before taking anything else again...I'm sorry."  
  
Menorum smiles and stands, "Now, I think you are expected at home. Report to me tomorrow  
and we will get started on your accelerated training."  
  
Skuld hops down off the bench and hugs her instructor, "Thank you! I will!"  
  
Menorum smiles a the little goddess as she trots off to go home. "Lord, we may not have enough  
time, but I will do my best."  
  
The Lord, in his office, hears Menorum's prayer and responds to her, "Yes Menorum, we don't  
have enough time, but teach her as much as she can absorb. She has not found the love in her  
heart yet to unlock her true power, and that will not come until she is on Earth. Then she will  
blossom into a wonderful Goddess."  
  
Menorum smiles and floats off down the path. 


	7. Let's Get this Show on the Road

--- Oh My Goddess characters owned by Kosuke Fujishima and not by me. ---

Chapter 7 - Let's get this Show on the Road...

In the last couple of years, Urd has developed some decent programming skills (along with well-practice lightning bolt placement); Skuld acquired her third class license, becoming the youngest goddess to achieve it; and Bell has finished her coding assignments for the Wish system and Goddess Relief Office. Belldandy had also acquired her First Class license, and Celestin had disappeared from her. It was time, Kami-sama thought, to give Earth the help she needed.

Kami-sama calls Belldandy to his office for a private meeting. When Belldandy arrives, he motions her in his office and to sit in front of his desk. "I called you here to discuss the development of the surface world, Earth, and one mortal named Keiichi Morisato."

Bell's eyes grew wide and she stiffened in her chair at the mention of his name, she looked anxiously at Him to see what he was going to say about Keiichi. Did He notice her watching him as he grew up? Or when she would covertly help him in one way or another? Bell didn't know if she was in trouble, got caught in the act, or what He might say or do about Keiichi. She just knew she was going to have to answer for her actions these last dozen years concerning Keiichi and she wasn't ready to.

Kami-sama noticed her stiffen up and secretly scanned her thoughts, listening to the questions she was asking herself and seeing her flashbacks of Keiichi at different ages. He smiles at Belldandy and leans forward in His chair, resting His arms on the desk.

"Belldandy, I know how you have been watching Keiichi, and helping him through your position in Yggdrasil programming."

Bell's winced her eyes as a guilty, sinking feeling filled her. She fell to the floor and prostrated herself in front of Him. "My Lord, I am sorry, I have been watching and helping the mortal Keiichi. I know I will be held responsible for what I have done and I ask only for your mercy. Please, forgive a Goddess's wish." Bell's throat tightened as she said the last part, how could she still be selfish and then openly admit that to Him? Large tears fell to the floor as she sobbed quietly, not knowing what His reaction would be to her slip of the tongue.

Kami-sama stood up and walked over to Bell. He put his hands on her shoulders and asked her to sit, she did not need to bow to him, at least not right now. "Belldandy, Goddess First Class, my daughter, I did not ask you to come to punish you for your activities with the mortal. In fact, unknown to you and your sisters, this has been planned. I'm sorry I could not tell you earlier, but I will tell you now." Belldandy sniffled and sat back down in her chair, visible shaken from the fear of His retribution towards her selfish wish.

He walked back over and sat behind his desk and looked to Belldandy with a fatherly expression, bringing Bell's anxiety down a notch. "Belldandy, you were sent to the surface world many years ago in order to meet someone. You met a young Keiichi Morisato, who was chosen to see the light as you descended. His heart is pure, and he is on the list to receive a wish. There is more though, about the surface world, that needs your attention."

Bell's breathing slows and her tears dry up, she realizes she's not in trouble and begins to visibly relax in the chair. Every time she hears Him say Keiichi's name, her heart skips a beat since she never thought she would hear his name from anyone else in Heaven.

"The mortals are in a delicate time, they have mastered many forms of technology, and are coming to a choice, to choose which side they are on. They could choose to follow Heaven's guidance, or that of the Demons. They can now destroy themselves if they choose, or grow into the next stage of their evolution. They need help, your help, to make that decision. The demons have been active on the surface world, subtly influencing the humans towards destruction. I need you to go down there and show them the way."

Bell absorbs His words, and their implications. She has stopped feeling anxious and now looks nervously to the Lord. "As a Goddess, I am here to serve you. If that is your desire, I will go to the surface world. Pardon me for my ignorance, but how shall I guide the mortals?"

He smiles and leans back in his chair, "Don't you already know? Through a mortal, one Mr.....Keiichi...Morisato."

Bell's eyes grow wide again, realizing that He has given permission for her to see Keiichi again. Thoughts run through her head faster than He can follow them, "OhMyGodwillheremembermeIcanfinallyseehim!OhwhatshouldIwear?ShouldItellUrd&SkuldnoIwon'tIhopeIcanRemainCalmIlovehimsomuchmyKeiichi...

The Lord smiles, "You are now assigned to the Goddess Relief Office as a Wishgiver. When Keiichi's time for a wish comes, you position yourself to be sent down to grant him his wish. You may not tell your sisters, or anyone else of this. So I speak."

Belldandy nods and stands, then bows to him deeply, "Thank you father, I will take care of Keiichi."

"And, the Earth, remember?" replies a smirking Kami-sama.

Bell blushes a deep crimson, "Of course, thank you." Bell straightens herself, and heads towards the door. She closes it behind her, then turns towards an open window and takes off flying towards home at MegaWarp 999 in feverish excitement. Holy Bell, her angel, popped out due to her excitement and flies along side of her, barely able to keep up!

-------

Urd, now a decent programmer, decides to go see her younger sister in Yggdrasil's terminal complex. When she arrives she finds a different Goddess sitting in Bell's chair. "Excuse me, but this is Belldandy's terminal, who are you and what are you doing here?" states a disgruntled Urd to the young goddess.

"I'm sorry, but Belldandy doesn't work here anymore, she's been reassigned to the Goddess Relief Office. Who are you?"

Urd looks at the goddess quizzingly, "I see, Bell didn't tell me about this. I'm Urd, her older sister."

The young Goddess's eyes open widely in shock when Urd tells her name, "You're the half-demon Goddess! Get away from me & my terminal!" She eeps and hides behind her terminal.

Urd, inflamed by her callous remark, promptly sends an Urd's Special triple-charged lightning bolt to her. Urd will always have those in Heaven who feel she is a threat due to her lineage, but she can't change that, and it just adds "spice to life" as she says. Urd turns and floats out of the terminal room, away from the smell of scorched young Goddess. She decides to go find Belldandy in her new assignment.

-------

Bell reports to the GRO as instructed and is enrolled into the training program. Here she'll learn what to say, what NOT to say, what wishes are acceptable, presentation skills, etc. Bell knows most of this already from reprogramming the Wish Code, but learns the people skills and tags along with experienced Goddesses to learn from them. She gets assigned to the switchboard, where she receives the calls and directs them to Goddesses ready to go down to grant their wish. "This is as good as place to be as any when Keiichi calls," thinks Belldandy as she marvels at the number of worlds and their inhabitants that are currently receiving wishes.


	8. Teaching Skuld Skills to go to the Surfa...

--- Oh My Goddess characters owned by Kosuke Fujishima and not by me. ---

Chapter 8 - Teaching Skuld Skills to go to the Surface World

Skuld has been practicing her Second Class License skills in preparation for her test with Menorum, but isn't quite advancing very well. "Skuld," her patient instructor asks, "look in your heart to find the source of your power. It is your love that will connect you to the source of your Goddess powers. Here in Heaven it will come easier than it will on the surface world where you are farther away."

Skuld furrows her forehead in concentration, closes her eyes and balls up her hands into fists next to her chin. In front of her is a small rock, about the size of a baseball, that just isn't feeling like it's going to go anywhere for awhile. Skuld visualizes the rock, then lifts it with her hand (but without her hand), but it just isn't quite working. Skuld shouts a the rock, "Come on you stupid rock, float!! I order you!!"

Menorum rests her hand on her shoulder. "Stop Skuld, that's not the way to find your power." Menorum sighs and sits next to Skuld, she reaches out at her balled up little fists and brings them over to her lap, coercing them into relaxing and opening up. "Skuld, do you think you have ever felt love, not like the love you have for your sisters, but a deep love that comes only from yourself and makes you want to give it to someone else willingly?"

Skuld looks into Menorum's eyes and thinks about her friends, how they play together, but doesn't quite make a connection. Menorum sees this in her eyes and smiles gently to her, "I don't think you have experienced that yet little one, but you will, and when you do you will find your power. Now come, let's work on your design skills. I see you've figured out how to take apart that circuit board and make a clock out of the parts. Maybe until you find the love that will allow you to access your power, we can work on developing your mechanical and limited power skills. For the mechanical skills, I will have to enlist the help of a friend who maintains Yggdrasil's systems. The other skills that you can learn use only with limited power; like how to change your clothes, defend yourself against minor threats, and transport yourself to different locations."

Skuld looks down, slightly disappointed in her failure to find her source of power. She does, however, perk her ears at the mention of learning more about hard parts. "I know how to change my clothes, I learned that from my sisters, but how can I transport?"

Menorum looks over to her, "Well, first we need to find out what your medium of travel will be. To do that we need to look that up in Yggdrasil. We can go see your sister Urd and have her look it up for us."

Skuld smiles and hops up on her feet, Menorum stands, taking in the beautiful scents coming from the gardens. She nods to Skuld, "Lead the way little one."

Urd is floating in her terminal chair high above the floor, working on fixing code that causes bugs to pop out unexpectedly in Heaven. "Humph, you know, if I made a backdoor into Yggdrasil here, I could get in here a lot quicker and fix these problems, plus get me around all those extra logins and nonsense. Let's see here..." Urd commences to typing so fast her fingers are a blur with a mischievous grin displayed on her face. An hour or so later, Urd throws her hands up and cries out, "Success! I am soo good, I can out-program all the other sysops blindfolded! Ha! I'm a natural..."

Skuld and Menorum float in and catch the last part of Urd's exclamation, giggling at her display. Skuld looks up to big sister, "Big Sister, we need your help!" Menorum floats up next to Skuld and looks to Urd too. "We need to look up Skuld's travel medium, can you look it up for us?

Urd smiles down, "Of course! I can almost tell her future too, because I..um..well I can get that right for you. Come on up." Skuld and Menorum floats up to Urd's terminal and hang mid-air by her side. Urd types at lightning speed again and brings up Skuld's record, "wow, that came up fast, this backdoor access is working well!" she thinks silently to herself. She turns to Skuld, "looks like your travel medium is water Skuld, do you know how to swim?"

Skuld looks shocked and looks to mentor with pleading eyes, "Do I really have to learn how to swim?" Urd laughs heartily as Menorum smiles gently at Skuld, "no Skuld, you don't have to learn how to swim. You won't actually get wet, let me go show you. Urd, be nice to your sister! Thank you Urd." Skuld and Menorum float down to leave, with Skuld waving bye to big sister.

Urd waves enthusiastically to the two departing Goddesses, "Ok, go ahead and have fun. Don't end up on a desert planet!" Skuld looks back shocked, Menorum gently pushes her out into the hall, "Don't worry Skuld, Urd is just teasing you." Urd is starting to enjoy Skuld more now that she is growing up and can interact with her like a young teenager rather than a kid. "Little Sisters can be so much fun!" Before she gets too far, Urd projects a thought to her, "How is Skuld doing Menorum?"

Menorum closes her eyes briefly and responds, "Skuld hasn't found her source of power yet. She is having difficulty finding her source of love. She isn't developing that as fast as you and Belldandy did. I worry for her."

Urd responds, "Well, Belldandy just naturally had that love in her for as long as I can remember. And I, well, had boyfriends at her age. She fits into the 'nerd' category, she is really smart, but doesn't seem to interface well socially yet. She'll get there someday I'm sure."

Menorum projects back as her and Skuld float out of the Yggdrasil complex into the bright azure sky, "Yes, she will, she may have to go to the surface planet before she finds her source though."

Urd puzzles, "Surface World, why would she go down there?"

Menorum cringes at the slip of her tongue, "Sorry Urd, that's confidential. I must prepare her for wherever she goes in the time I have with her."

Urd slams her fist on the terminal keyboard, "Damnit Menorum, tell me, what's going on with my little sister!? Does that explain why she got her third class license so young!? She can't defend herself down there yet!" Urd is very protective of both her sisters, even if she doesn't outwardly show it.

Menorum sternly replies, "I can't say Urd, please understand, she won't get hurt if that's what you're worried about."

Urd smarts at her reply, "You better let me know when she's going down there. As her sister I have a right to know."

Menorum sighs and doesn't reply, it's better just to drop it instead of arousing Urd's anger further. "Please Lord, forgive my slip of the tongue."

Menorum was distracted by the conversation with Urd and didn't notice that Skuld has learned how to be quite an acrobatic flyer.

Menorum pulled up the lead and directed them down to a fountain in another of Heaven's many Botanical Gardens. Menorum landed softly by the fountain, whereas Skuld tripped and fell on her knees. "Ow!" cried Skuld. 

"It looks like you need to work on that Skuld, you won't make a grand entrance if you trip when you touch down!"

Skuld winces from the pain, "I'm sorry, I'll try harder next time."

Menorum walks over to the fountain and peers inside. "Skuld, come on over so we can get you started transporting."

Skuld gets up and hobbles over by the fountain. She looks at the water and then sticks her hand into it and splashes the water. "I thought you said I wouldn't get wet."

Menorum chuckles, "Yes, you won't, but only when you're transporting silly. Now step up here and look into the water. Since this is your travel medium, you'll have to visualize a tunnel that will lead you to where you want to go. Now, a puddle of water will have to be present at the start and end of your tunnel. So unlike what Urd says, you can't end up on a desert planet since there is no water there. When you visualize where you want to go, open the tunnel by 'pulling' it from the surface of the water and enter it. You should be able to see through any available pools of water at that location. If you won't see one where you want to go, you return back here through where you left."

Skuld looks at the surface of the water, which only reflects her gaze. She reaches her hand towards the water, grasping for something that isn't there. She looks to Menorum, "I don't feel anything." Menorum responds, "have you thought of where you want to go?" Skuld looks around and sees a birdbath a few steps behind her. "I'll try to go there." Menorum agrees and nods, "Good, now what do you think you'll see when you look at the end of your tunnel."

"The bottom of the birdbath!" Skuld replies. Menorum shakes her head, "not exactly Skuld, you'll see things that are above the birdbath. Imagine yourself laying at the bottom of the birdbath and looking up through the water. What would you see?"

Skuld closes her eyes and imagines seeing the bottoms of birds, their legs dangling in the water, a shimmering view of the sky through the ripples in the surface, and a bird standing on the side looking down at her. She pulls her hand away from the surface of the water in the fountain and feels a slight resistance. She turns to look at what's got her hand and freezes, a small hole has appeared in the water with a column of faint yellowish light emitting from it. "Skuld, good, now look at the birdbath..."

Skuld turns her head slowly and sees the same faint column of light emitting from the birdbath. Menorum smiles, "Good Skuld. Now, do you think it's big enough for you to go through it? If not, pull it open more with your hand." Skuld pulls her hand against the resistance and feels her power being drained. She pulls it open a couple of feet when she loses control of it and it snaps back shut.

Menorum smiles. "Good job Skuld, I suspect it closed because you ran out of power." Skuld nods, the fatigue evident in her eyes and slumping shoulders. "Next time you'll be stronger, and now you know what to feel for. Don't be discouraged, after awhile you won't need to use your hands to form the tunnel."

Skuld nods slowly, "Aw, now I have to walk home! I'm too tired to fly."

Menorum chuckles, "No you don't kiddo. Let's pick this up tomorrow. I'll take you home, here, hold my hand."

Skuld yawns and grasps her hand. Menorum closes her eyes and opens a portal through a nearby tree. She opens her eyes and smiles at Skuld, "Ok, let's get you home" and they step into the portal.


	9. Teaching Skuld Skills to go to the Surfa...

Chapter 9 – Skuld's Transport Training, part 2

Back in the gardens the next day Menorum and Skuld are trying to open her transport gateway at the same fountain.  As always in heaven; the grass is green, the air is clean, and the sky is oh so blue it seems.

"You can do it, concentrate, and feel for the pull," encourages Menorum as Skuld tries to reopen her transport gateway.  Skuld furrows her forehead as she holds her hand over the water feeling for the gateway opening.  She's fully rested and anxious to get this working so she can go somewhere without walking or flying.  She feels the tug on her hand and the golden column rising from the surface of the water.  In excitement, she whips her hand back, ripping the gateway wide open in the fountain.  The golden column of light displaces the water with nary a wave.  "Good, " says Menorum, "Now go in and look for the exit through the birdbath," she points at the birdbath beside them.

Skuld hops up and floats down the column.  Inside she sees several views through fountains, bathtubs, sinks, birdbaths and rivers in heaven.  She looks for the one that she recognizes as the birdbath.  She extends her other hand towards that one and feels the tug, she pulls her hand back whipping open the gateway in the birdbath.

Menorum stands between the fountain and birdbath, watching the column of light for intensity in the fountain, which indicates how stable the gateway is.  She hears birds splashing and taking off in a hurry from the birdbath behind her so she turns to see a golden column thrust itself upward from the entire surface of the water.  The top of a little black haired goddess peeks up through the birdbath at Menorum, then Skuld shoots up through the opening in the birdbath and squeals with glee!  "I did it!  I did it!!  I have to show Belldandy!  I'm a genius!"

Menorum claps and giggles at the little goddess.  "Very good!  What did you see while you were in there?"

"I saw several places I could've gone.  I had to think how things would look like from looking 'out' of the water.  That's how I recognized the birdbath, like yesterday.  Can I get in trouble if I go to the wrong one?"

Menorum shakes her head, "It's just like opening a door into somewhere that you don't know what's on the other side.  If you try to go into a hostile place, you can immediately pull back and go somewhere else and nothing can follow you in if you close the gateway right away.  Now are you done with your gateways?"

Skuld nods enthusiastically with a big happy smile.

"Ok, now you need to close them to preserve your power and to keep someone or something from coming through too."

Skuld floats back over by Menorum and lands by her.  She waves her right hand in a large arc at the fountain and birdbath.  The golden columns rapidly dissipate into the water.  She looks back over to Menorum, then suddenly feels the need to sit down.  

"Uh oh, I think I used too much energy again."

Menorum nods and motions for her to sit down next to the fountain.  "Yes, but you lasted longer today than you did yesterday.  Tomorrow you should be able to do that twice.  You're just getting used to channeling alot more energy.  In a year you won't even blink an eye at doing that over and over."

Skuld wearily smiles, "good, what else can we learn today that doesn't take a lot of power?"

Menorum laughs softly, "Ok, since you are going to the surface world, you won't use your powers very much hopefully, and you'll have some down time.  So let me introduce you to what is called 'Manga' and 'ice cream' on the surface world.  Oh, by the way, if you run low on power, ice cream is your alternate energy source.  It's edible, usually served cold, comes in a wide variety of flavors, and you can eat all you need without worry of gaining weight, because Goddesses don't gain weight, ever, unless you get pregnant."

Skuld looks shocked at Menorum, "why would I ever want to do _that!?!_"

Menorum giggles at Skuld, "I see you already know about that, the 'birds and the bees' as the mortals call it."

Skuld groans and rolls her eyes, "I have an older sister who never hesitated sharing 'those' things with me in her feeble attempts to make me like boys!"

Menorum gasps and holds her hand in front of her mouth, "Not Belldandy!  She doesn't seem the type who would…"

Skuld shakes her head vigorously and interrupts her, "Not Belldandy!  It's Urd…"

"Oh, I see…"


	10. Skuld is Recruited as a Debugger

Chapter 10 – Urd Gets Busy & Recruits Skuld in the Debugging Department

What is there to do in heaven when you're not working?  Floating around on clouds, playing harps?  Not likely, since your work assignments take most of your time and then after that you learn/practice Goddess skills, or reply to help calls from various planets in His creation.  Belldandy keeps herself busy at the GRO, she's still working the switchboard, but not able to grant wishes yet.  That doesn't bother her like some of the other young GRO Goddesses, she just has to wait for her one call (and she's under orders to only do that, too).  

Urd became System Administrator for Yggdrasil since she can somehow fix problems faster than the other sys ops (they probably haven't thought of the backdoor entry technique).  Urd doesn't really like her new position, but it gave her a First Class license, for awhile anyway.  Then there was the "Urd's Super Punchbowl Potion" incident at the Yggdrasil Multi-Millennium Party, and she promptly got busted back to Second Class after sending a dozen Gods & Goddesses to the infirmary (yes, Heaven has one) for Love poisoning.  Seems it was beyond their control to act like Gods & Goddesses after drinking the punch so He temporarily knocked them out and sent them in to allow the potion to wear off.  Urd's casual cover-up remark about Gods need to lighten up at the party didn't go over well thus sealing her demotion.  Leave it to Urd to exhibit the wrong behavior and the wrong time.  She was also getting used to being hit with Heavenly lightning bolts as she matured and friskier for her behavior, they also have the plus of keeping her hair that dazzling white.  Skuld says her permanent tan was probably from exposure to all the UV radiation the lightning bolts emit, not because of her half-demon heritage.  

Skuld was advancing rapidly towards her second class license through her training with Menorum.  Transporting was becoming easy, and she could block minor spells.  She wasn't powerful or skilled enough to attack yet, so she was making up for it by piecing together discarded mechanical components into simple devices (i.e. the invention of the Skuld Bomb).  

Bell patiently waits for her call, the one to set her free from the switchboard.  She enjoys helping the other Goddesses in their tasks, and gets to hear what is going on in the various worlds.  Some calls she received at the switchboard were disturbing to her; sometimes she would answer with people crying because they were heartbroken, lost a loved one, destitute, or were severely depressed and at high risk of hurting themselves.  Other calls sounded just like a normal call where one assumes they got a wrong number.  Her sensitive nature made it difficult to shake the troubling calls even though she knew a Goddess would help them get through their problems.  She had the luxury of having Urd keep an eye on Keiichi and let her know how he was doing.  Urd found him very boring, a guy who had no real excitement in his life.  He had gotten into college and she wondered what would happen for him to call the GRO.  She hoped it he would call because of a "wrong number" instead of him being hurt.  "He'll call someday, I must be patient."

Urd sends a message to Menorum via telepath, "Menorum, Skuld is needed for a new project here in Yggdrasil.  Would she be available to start soon?"

Across heaven, Menorum replies, "Yes, she still has not found her source of power yet, so there isn't much more I can teach her until she does.  Give me a couple days to finish and I'll bring her buy."

"Thanks Menorum, I look forward to seeing her again."

-----

A couple days later –

Menorum brings Skuld to Urd, who sits at her terminal floating above the floor.

"Skuld, you've been recruited to help in our debugging department.  Do you know what a bug is?"

Skuld looks sternly at Urd, "Yes, that's  what happens when one of your programs goes bad because you only think you're a good programmer!"

Anger flares in Urd's eyes for a brief moment, but with Menorum here she tempers her usual lightning bolt reaction.  "Yes, although they come from most programs when they don't function correctly."

Skuld rolls her eyes and says under her breath, "Yeah, like all of yours!"

Menorum looks between the two sisters and then turns to Urd, "I'll leave Skuld here with you."  She turns to Skuld and gets down on a knee so she can look into her eyes.  "I've taught you what I can until you find your source of power, your love.  When you find that, I can teach you how to be a First Class Goddess if He wants me to.  I'll keep an eye out for you little one, you're going to grow up to be great.  Take care of yourself Skuld."

Menorum hugs Skuld and steps out into the hall, disappearing outside the door.  Skuld sniffs as she waved bye.  Urd calms down and floats down by her, "Ok kiddo, let's get you going.  I think you can handle your assignment alright.  Your group is this way…"

Urd takes Skuld's hand and leads her deeper into the Yggdrasil complex and steps into the central debugging office.  A middle-aged God comes over and bows slightly to the two, "Hi, I'm Apex, and this must be Skuld."

Skuld nods without saying anything.

"Don't worry Skuld, we'll teach you what you need to know to whack bugs.  Thanks Urd for bringing her down, we need to go get started.  There's been quite an outbreak lately."

Skuld snickers at his comment and thinks, "Yeah, because of _her!"_

Urd clears her throat, "I don't know what's causing them, but we're working on it 'round the clock!"  She turns to Skuld, "Ok, have a good time, see you later!"  Urd waves her hand at Skuld and leaves the room to go back to her terminal.

Apex smiles at Skuld with a big toothy grin, "Ok, first things first, we have to get you a weapon.  Ever swung a hammer before?"

Skuld looks up confused, "what's a hammer?"         


	11. The Call comes in

--- Oh My Goddess characters owned by Kosuke Fujishima and not by me. ---

This chapter finishes this series of short stories since I haven't received much feedback on them.  It doesn't mean I ran out of ideas, I see tons of storylines in the development of the girls, but maybe these storylines aren't what the readers wanted?  Don't know, but I hope some of you did enjoy them, I did imagining & writing them!  

Chapter 11 – (Finally) The Call Comes In…

The phone seems to ring more often, a silent Bell thinks to herself.  She got a call from Urd yesterday letting her know that Skuld has earned her Second Class license and is now a full-time debugger.  Urd has been the System Administrator for awhile, and now she is losing some interest in it as Yggdrasil seems to coast along fine on it's own (Skuld whole-heartily disagrees with her though).  Bell watches the lights on the switchboard flicker as mortals call in with disinterest.  She lets out a silent sigh Holy Bell hears as she wonders how Keiichi is doing.  He's in college and seems socially awkward enough to be left alone by many of his classmates.  He misses home, and his family, but is excited to be on his own.  

*Ring*

Bell picks up the phone and answers in her sweet voice, "Thank you for calling the Goddess Hotline, a representative will be with you shortly."  She locks in the caller's location and hangs up.  She then transfers his coordinates to the next available Goddess and relaxes back in her chair.  "Someday, Keiichi will call, I hope it is soon."  Bell closes her eyes and sings to herself, chorused by the soft angelic voice of Holy Bell.

"Arrgh!  Bug alarms in terminal room three!" shouts Skuld to her fellow bug-smashers as they head out of the break room into Yggdrasil's huge terminal complex.  "They always pop out at breaks!  Grrr!"  The tails of her lab-coat looking outfit fly back behind her as she and three others race to smash the bugs.  "I hope Urd didn't cause this!"

Urd dozes off at her terminal, it's volume turned down low to where she can't hear the alarm beeping.  "Zzz, oh, what's that?"  Urd comes to and goes into shock as she sees the imminent crash alert blinking on her screen.  "Aw crap!  Skuld's not going to like me!  Hm, but could she even figure out it was me that caused the bug outbreak though?  I bet not…"  Urd starts typing a million-miles as hour at her keyboard to fix the code breakdown.

*Ring*

Bell pauses her singing and answers the phone without opening her eyes in her sweet voice, "Thank you for calling the Goddess Hotline, a representative will be with you shortly."  She locks in the caller's location and hears, "Hello?  Do you have take-out?  Hello…?"  Bell instantly snaps awake and stares at the location data on her terminal.  "Oh my God, Keiichi…, I'm coming my  Keiichi!"  She reluctantly hangs up and pulls her mirror out of her pocket.  She looks at her reflection in the mirror and says to herself, "Calm down, be professional, he won't remember you."  Holy Bell pops out from feeling Bell's feverish excitement and wraps her arms gently around her.  Bell smiles and closes her eyes, feeling Holy Bell's love in her embrace.  She takes a deep breath and asks Holy Bell to return in her with a promise to see her again soon.  Holy Bell smiles and tucks her wings and disappears back into Bell.  

Bell lays the mirror on her terminal.  She calls to Velena telepathically, "My Lady, I am going to the Surface World to grant a wish.  Can you find another Goddess to take my place while I am gone?"

From across the Heavens Velena smiles, "Yes Belldandy, go on and don't worry about the switchboard, we'll take care of it.  And  I'm glad you finally get to be with your Keiichi again."

Bell's eyes open in shock, "Yes, that is who called me, but how did you know Velena?"

Velena smiles, "Your relationship with the mortal boy has been ordained by Him for a long time now.  Do you best, and everything will work out.  Good luck Belldandy, Goddess first Class.  Now don't keep him waiting."

Bell's tears of joy fall to the floor, "Yes, thank you Velena, tell my sisters I will talk to them soon for me!"

Bell touches the surface of the mirror, the surface begins to ripple as a soft glow envelops it.  Bell wipes the tears off her face and leans forward into the mirror, "I'm coming, my Keiichi…"

Velena smiles and thought-casts to Passier, "It's begun, Belldandy has gone to the Surface World to be with the mortal Keiichi Morisato.  You wouldn't happen to have an extra Goddess that could work my switchboard would you?"

Passier looks to the beautiful blue sky above and closes her eyes, "Yes Velena, I can help you with that.  I'm glad that boy finally called, the mortals need the help.  I hope Belldandy is ready.  I believe she will fall deeply in love with him.  Maybe some day we will get to meet him up here."

Velena mentally nods, "Yes, I think she will do fine, and I bet we will get to meet the boy.  Now, I need to go tell her sisters that she has left and we need to be ready in case Urd or Skuld have to go down there too.  They cannot know that they may need to go down there yet."

Passier responds in a joyous tone, "They don't know, we can be assured.  I can let Urd know, I'll pass by her terminal in a few moments when I go talk to Him."

Velena looks towards the Pearly Offices where He resides, "Thank you Passier, I will tell Skuld.  Take care my sister."

Urd sleepily sits at her terminal monitoring the system traffic to the various worlds.  For an instant, a series of Nordic words flash in front of her eyes.  Urd instantly perks up, "What was that?"  She accesses the log file and reads the code describing Bell's approval to go to the Surface World alone to fulfill a wish.  "No way, she finally got to go, good girl!"  Just then Passier floats in and heads to Urd.  

"I see you know then, your sister Belldandy has gone to the Surface World to grant a wish."

Urd smiles and claps her hands together, "Great!  She's finally on her way.  I can't wait to congratulate her when she gets back!"

Passier shakes her head, "I'm sorry Urd, but she will be done there for a long time.  You may not get to see her for almost a century."

Urd looks at Passier and casually replays, "I guess she's going to be saving the world or something on a wish?"

Passier shakes her head again, "No Urd, it's a boy.  She will fall in love with him and…"

Urd's eyes open wide, "You mean, she's going to be with a mortal!?!  All right Bell!"  Urd dances and woo hoo's in her chair, "I gotta watch this!"

Passier sighs, "Don't do anything that will get you in trouble (again) Urd, Goddess _Second_ Class.  You may not contact her unless it's an emergency.  Understand?"

Urd nods, "I understand and swear not to …unintelligible… with Keiichi."

Passier looks confused at what she heard, not sure if she heard it correctly.  "I see you know his name.  You must've noticed Bell's surveillance on him over the years.  If you see Belldandy in trouble, let me know.  The mortals are in a time of need and she was sent to help them.  Good day Urd."

Urd waves bye to Passier, "Okay, I'll keep you informed on Bell's activities! "

After Passier leaves, Urd gets a disturbingly mischievous look on her face.  "Oh ho ho, my little sister with a boyfriend, I'll have to keep a _close_ eye on them!"  She turns back to her terminal and starts developing the "Urd Surveillance Ops System v1.01" program code.


End file.
